Anonymous wrote:What kind of longterm education are you looking for? That actually makes a big difference with how you may want to proceed. Which schools you do have in mind for 'down the road'?

How?

OP, we did the EEK testing for my youngest who has an early October birthday. She did not pass. It consisted of seven subparts and each part has to be passed separately. Test was set for her regular school naptime - they set it, you don't have input. She got everything right on six of the seven subtests and missed one question on the last, which was a test with only three questions. That gave her less than a passing grade on the last test and she wasn't admitted. We did not ask the principal to use her discretion to override the decision and did not appeal even though the principal seemed willing to consider admitting her.

At the time I had her tested, I had not yet decided between public and private and she had been accepted to several privates, so I just went with private. She's a little tiny peanut who is about the size of the pre-k kids even though she is in first grade now. But, she was more than ready academically and socially for kindergarten. The only adjustment was that she had to move from her friends because they all went to the local public.

So, public isn't the only option for kids with a late birthday who is ready for school.

What kind of longterm education are you looking for? That actually makes a big difference with how you may want to proceed. Which schools you do have in mind for 'down the road'?

OK, so we have some young, small kids who did well with EEK, and some young, small kids who did well going on time, and the moral is: there is no one right answer for all kids everywhere.

Well here is another side to the story. I have an early October kid who we did not send to K early. He is in third grade now and it was the absolute best decision.

Academically he was way ahead. He was reading fluently before his last year of preschool. He is a small kid and can be pretty reserved socially. I know he would have been miserable with kids a year or more older. He is happy and excelling both academically and socially.

Kindergarten was ridiculously easy for him but he grew alot socially that year.

19:42, your reasons for keeping your girl back for another year make a lot of sense, but I wanted to give you some food for thought. My DD is now a second grader. Her birthday is in very late August so she had only been five for a few days when she began kindergarten. We were very much on the fence about whether to send her on time or hold her for another year. Like your daughter, she was tiny (still is-- at age 7 she's barely cracked 40 pounds) and was quiet and easily overwhelmed in new situations. (i.e. she had cried a lot at the beginning of each preschool year). But her preK teacher convinced us that she'd be bored out of her skull if she repeated preK-- she was on the cusp of reading at the end of that year and was as advanced as, or more advanced than, all of her other classmates-- and she had an older sibling at the elementary school so she knew the ins and outs of the bus, the campus, etc. We decided to send her on time and it was a good decision. She's really come out of her shell in the past few years, socially, and is shining academically. She is still an emotional roller coaster at home, but I think she'll always be that way, whether she's the oldest or youngest in her class. In the classroom, her teachers describe her as "on the ball," "a leader," and all sorts of other good stuff. I think you can make a good argument for either choice when you have a kid on the edge of the cutoff date, but you might be surprised at how well your DD would do if she had the chance to start K at age (almost) 5.

We're not going to have DD take the test. She has a 10/1 birthday. I think she's academically capable and her preschool teachers agree. However, she is tiny. She will be one of the smallest kids even if she's six at the start of the year. Also, she likes being one of the older kids in a social situation. She's a little quiet and self contained and gets overwhelmed by older/larger kids when they play rough. Finally, I think that kindergarten is simply too academic for a five year old, and I want her to have more time in a play based early childhood education environment.

The sticker price of another year of childcare is the only thing that gives me pause.

Anonymous wrote:Right, PP. I guess the question is whether to try the exam when she's 4, because she would be turning 5 three weeks after school starts.

Really, why not try? If she doesn't pass, then you don't have to make a decision, and if she does pass, you can decide then.

Right, PP. I guess the question is whether to try the exam when she's 4, because she would be turning 5 three weeks after school starts.

Anonymous wrote:So, we're in MoCo. My DD is 3 with a mid-Sept birthday. But I am trying to make decisions about what kind of preschool she will go to next fall when she turns 4. And I'm already thinking about the early entrance to kindergarten. Not sure whether I would want to 'redshirt' her or not; I know that's all the rage. Whenever she's ready is fine with me. I was always the youngest one in school; graduated at 17. I don't remember feeling overwhelmed or unable to keep up, but let's face it, public school was pretty different 30 years ago. Socially, I remember feeling a little awkward, but then I was generally an awkward kid, so what's to say I wouldn't have felt the same way a year later.

But I digress.

I'm curious about this test. Anyone recommend taking it or not? Anyone seen it or know how difficult it is or what the format is like? I wonder if I should put her through it at all.

OP. if you redshirt she would turn 7 at the beginning of K. If you send her on time according to the sept. 1 cutoff she is going at the correct age (5 turning 6 right away). I believe a child with a birthday within 6 weeks of sept. 1 can take the early entrance exam.

Anonymous wrote:

No idea what they did or asked - I was not able to be in the room and her description was sketchy!

Same here.

My kid took the exam and passed, and we did EEK. Now in second grade and doing fine.

I was also always the youngest and smallest (at least in elementary school), and I don't think there were any academic or social problems because of it.

Daughter has a 10/4 bday. We did the test this past summer and she scored 98% on 2 sections, 97% on another.

I haven't had many regrets about it, she loves kindergarten and her teacher, but it's been a tough-ish transition. I think the lack of nap/downtime in the afternoon is hard, as is just the simple act of sitting still for so long. Had she been on the edge of the scores I might have waited, but scoring so high I felt it was worth putting her in.

No idea what they did or asked - I was not able to be in the room and her description was sketchy!

So, we're in MoCo. My DD is 3 with a mid-Sept birthday. But I am trying to make decisions about what kind of preschool she will go to next fall when she turns 4. And I'm already thinking about the early entrance to kindergarten. Not sure whether I would want to 'redshirt' her or not; I know that's all the rage. Whenever she's ready is fine with me. I was always the youngest one in school; graduated at 17. I don't remember feeling overwhelmed or unable to keep up, but let's face it, public school was pretty different 30 years ago. Socially, I remember feeling a little awkward, but then I was generally an awkward kid, so what's to say I wouldn't have felt the same way a year later.

But I digress.

I'm curious about this test. Anyone recommend taking it or not? Anyone seen it or know how difficult it is or what the format is like? I wonder if I should put her through it at all.